There wasn’t really much going on today. We reached the airport early in the morning and flew to Beijing, waiting in the Beijing Airport for quite some time, waiting for all the groups to arrive so we could proceed to the hotel. In the end, we reached the hotel in time for dinner, which had food we weren’t really used to. Therefore, we ate less and went to our rooms early, preparing for the competition.

3 November 2011

The entire competition was today, consisting of 3 rounds; the team round, the relay round and the individual round. The team round was first, and was rather difficult as it was expected that we could solve the questions as a group. I don’t think we did very well for the team round.

The relay round was even worse. Most of us were unable to answer both parts of the question, so we got rather low marks. Then, for the individual round, we did slightly better as the questions were a bit easier for us, so we could at least answer about half of the questions.

I think we didn’t do as well because we weren’t really in practice. Most of us had not practiced Math Olympiad skills for about a month, and I was the only one who had taken the EOY math exam as well. If we had devoted some of our time at the end of the year to training up our math skills again, we would probably have been able to do better in the competition.

4 November 2011

Today we travelled to the Forbidden City, Beihai Park and Wangfujing. We went to the Forbidden City first, where we spent quite some time walking around the area and looking at the vast amounts of buildings that were built there. The architecture was indeed quite impressive, and even though it was my third time there, I rather enjoyed the trip there.

After the Forbidden City and lunch, we went to Beihai Park. In Beihai Park there was a rather large pavilion with many statues of Buddha and his followers, adorned around the mountain in the park and in the large pavilions. I liked the buildings in the area and did find it rather interesting.

Finally, we went shopping in Wangfujing. We mostly did window shopping in the area, as we weren’t really in the mood to shop. We went to the bookstore in the area, where we saw some books we were somewhat interested in, but since the books were in Chinese, we decided to look for them some other time.

5 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. I bought a really cute panda soft toy!
2. The Great Wall is really cold in winter. Even though it was my third time there my hands and feet were numb at the end of the trip.
3. We didn't win anything in the competition =(

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. The result of the competition isn't important, but what is learnt during the competition is what really counts.
2. The reason for why the hotel food, facilities and other parts of the hotel are not as good quality as we wanted - Because the hotel has no competition from other hotels which also provide a convention centre, it sees no need to improve its standards as that would be unnecessary.

1 thing that I wish to know more from today’s experience. (- applicable on the non-training days)

How much would the Jiuhua Resort & Convention Centre improve if there was actual competition for it?

7 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. The whiteboards in the classroom use a vacuum cleaner to erase the chalk marks. I find this is a rather innovative method and I had not considered it before.
2. The instructor used coloured chalk to denote different lines and how they are related to each other. I found this quite helpful is it allowed me to visualise the problems better.
3. There were many interesting methods used today in the lesson. These methods are different from what I know but are also quite effective in solving the question.

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. The Chinese names of the triangles. I didn't really know what an equilateral triangle or a midpoint in Chinese was, but now I do know.
2. Different methods the instructor used to solve the questions, such as rewording equations. These are strategies I had not thought to use before.

1 question that I still do not understand from today’s lesson. (- applicable on the training days)

1. I'm not sure how the Cosine Rule can really be used in the final question today.

8 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. It was my birthday today~ And there was a really nice cake! Thanks Ms Wang and Mrs Ooi for arranging the cake!
2. The many different ways to find Pythagorean Triplets.
3. The properties of triangles are even more useful than I thought in solving problems with triangles.

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. Heronian Triangles, triangles with integers for its sides and area.
2. The usage of incircles.

1 question that I still do not understand from today’s lesson. (- applicable on the training days)

1. I still don't really understand question 10 of the morning lesson.

9 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. We went to The Bund today =D
2. We got back an hour later than expected because we got lost + other random stuff =D
3. More people are getting sick D:

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. More properties of quadrilaterals and how they can be used to solve equations.
2. Similar triangles and how the more advanced properties are useful in solving problems.

1 question that I still do not understand from today’s lesson. (- applicable on the training days)

1. I still don't really understand question 13 of the afternoon lesson.

10 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. I have my own room now~
2. It's starting to get quite a bit colder here now...
3. We were apparently taught by the HOD of Math today for the afternoon lesson ._>

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. An angle in a circle is equal to half of the 2 arcs that subtend it.
2. The chinese names for terms used in circles such as diameter, tangent, etc.

1 question that I still do not understand from today’s lesson. (- applicable on the training days)

1. I don't understand question 13 of the afternoon lesson even after going through it.

11 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. We learnt about Menelaus' theorem and Ceva's theorem and when they can be applied.
2. Bing somehow chained his room key to his belt =D
3. The lessons are over, and for the next 2 days it'll be sightseeing =D

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. How to apply Menelaus' theorem and Ceva's theorem in questions.
2. How to prove that some points are concyclic.

1 question that I still do not understand from today’s lesson. (- applicable on the training days)

1. I don't understand the last question from the morning lesson.

12 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. I managed to get 4 books for 121.40 yuan =O It's so much cheaper here compared to Singapore.
2. The bookstore had a rather efficient way to accommodate the entering and exiting of people. One door was for entering; one door was for exiting. It's a lot faster compared to Singapore, which has one shared entrance and a lot of pushing.
3. We got slightly lost again when trying to get back from the train station to the school =D

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. Don't joke around in public areas. It might be quite obvious, but it did happen today...
2. Don't read while crossing the road =.= A CERTAIN SOMEONE tried that today, and it... went as expected.

1 thing that I wish to know more from today’s experience. (- applicable on the non-training days)

1. How to get back from the train station to the school without getting lost at all ._.

13 November 2011

3 interesting things that I would like to share with friends/family from today’s experience.
(Note: “Experience” can be from competition, lesson, or trip.)

1. We got to go to another DQ here in Shanghai~
2. We were able to go to the Shanghai S&T museum. It was a huge museum with quite a few interesting sections.
3. Our entire group pretty much got a bit lost in the museum ._.

2 important lessons that I learnt today.
(Note: on the training days, you are REQUIRED to reflect on the academic aspect of lessons; on the other days, you may mention soft skills learnt from that day’s experience. Please be specific in your reflection.)

1. Splitting up in groups, even into smaller groups, isn't always a very good idea. I spent about 10 minutes trying to find Bing in the museum, and because Guan Hong and Jinhui wanted to try out a certain exhibition, they were seperated from us for about an hour.
2. Don't EVER tell Bing he can do whatever he wants with your stuff ._. MY MENTOS ;~;

1 thing that I wish to know more from today’s experience. (- applicable on the non-training days)